Discussion»Statements»Rosie's Corner» If a woman takes on a job normally done by men does she have to be a very tough dame to pull it off? Or can she be very feminine?
I think Hillary Clinton is a very tough dame. I think Kamala Harris is as well. Also NANCY PELOSI bigtime! Michelle Obama too in the very nicest way. Melania? I think she has relied on her beauty all her life and never developed her muscles because she never needed to do so. I could be wrong. Thank you for your reply Walt. Am I a tough dame? Not out there in the world where vipers win and innocent babies die. :(
Of the examples you list ... I would say Michelle Obama is the most feminine. In fact, she is the only one that really meets my personal picture of being feminine.
Feminine is difficult to define, as even the dictionary says it relies on cultural/social expectations.
I think we have to make any job we do our own if we are to do well at it and it is to reflect our best. Which we may not be able to do if are expected only to do it the way some man previously did it. We have tenderness but we have toughness as well - and all of us in our own ways and varying amounts. In the long run I don't think it is good for us to just act they way we think men would act. A different approach can make a world of difference and I have seen many instances where a woman when left to her own devices did a job better and more effectively than a man. "Femininity" I think can be as annoying as anything else if we are trying to rigidly force it down people's throats. We need to be ourselves. Now of course we want to be recognized as women but we can't allow that to interfere with our assigned duties because when we do we are just not taken seriously at all. Which is what I have noticed.
I would disagree with Walt - certainly military men I have known or chatted with on the net have the highest respect for their female colleagues as military personnel and as women.
Walt O'Reagun 